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17 June 2007

The boy with the incredible brain

Before I start on this Boy and his Incredible Brain, I just want to say something about Doctor Who last night.

Did anyone else feel slightly let down by the fact that Captain Jack's "story", which had remained a mystery for an entire 13-episode series of Torchwood, unravelled in a matter of seconds on Doctor Who? So fast, in fact, that I barely caught it. What? He was a time agent (what's a time agent?) stuck in the 20th century, waiting for the Doctor to materialise, so he could - what? Someone please explain. All I got from this was John Barrowman + David Tennant = great viewing.

Anyway, this Boy. Found on Stumbleupon on Friday night - programme about a boy (actually 25 years old) who can recall Pi to 22,000 digits and learn Icelandic in a week. Sounds like madness but he could provide major insights into the way people with autistic spectrum disorders view the world. Normally someone with these kinds of abilities (a "savant" - think Rain Man) would also have severe impairments in other areas of learning, often social aspects, making it difficult for him to integrate himself into society. However, this particular Boy has no obvious learning difficulties and is able to talk freely about his "internal landscape". Absolutely jaw dropping. Wonderful TV.

Is it me or is this blog turning into a science on TV blog of late? Clearly I'm not working hard enough...